The Games of Haymitch
by lord Piggy
Summary: We all know the basics to his Hunger Games, but do we actually know any details? "My name is Haymitch Abernathy, I am 16 years old, I have a loving girlfriend, a kind family, and I was just reaped for the Hunger Games." Temp Hiatus
1. No Volunteers

**__****_IF ANYONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN A STORY WITH THE SAME CONCEPT PLEASE TELL ME SO I CAN TAKE THIS DOWN. thanks:)_**

**So, this is my first Hunger Games fanfic, and I honestly hope you like reading. Like the description and title implies, this is a detailed account of Haymitch's time in the arena. Suzann Collins only gave us a brief rundown of the games, but this, this is going to be an in depth look at it. **

**I hope you guys love it!**

**Deirdre can be pronounced three ways, but in this fanfic it's pronounced DAIR-druh(it's the irish form)**

**ENJOY!**

**I just realized that Mrs. Everdeen was never named, so I can name her myself! :D**

**And I'm sorry if I got the timing wrong, I mean when the reaping takes place and stuff.**

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My name is Haymitch Abernathy, I am 16 years old, I have a loving girlfriend, a wonderful family, and I was just reaped for the Hunger Games. This was how my "fantastic" day began.

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It was like most other mornings, I was woken up by the clatter of pots and pans. I was immediatley pulled out of the sweet dullness of my dreams, and I was pulled into the harsh reality. The grogginess didn't wear off even as I listened to my mother's chipper voice ordering my sister around the kitchen. I sat up and tried to rub the tired from my eyes. My younger sister, Colette, was scrambling around the kitchen trying to find scraps of food that my mother could use to make a decent breakfast.

"Morning, Haymitch!" Colette said with a smile. I gave her a small smile. Most other people would be angry if I gave them a barely noticable smile, but Colette knew how much I despised the very word smile. My mother turned from the "stove" and gave me a nod that meant, "Good morning, help you sister." You see, my mom and I are alike in many ways. Neither of us enjoy smiling, and we like to get things done quickly.

I slid out of bed and walked over to Colette. I leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Anything in particular?" She knew what I meant. While she was scoping a small bowl that stood in the middle of the a large slab of wood nailed to four large sticks that could pass as our table. She shook her head.

"She wants anything. Dried fruit, dead mice, withered plants, anything she can use," Colette replied. _Anything she can use._

"Bugs?" I asked. Colette stiffled a small giggle and shrugged as best as she could while trying to contain laughs. Since I'd rather not have a breakfast that consisted of bugs, mice, and dead plants, I asked mother something that I'm sure anyone would go for.

"Can I go to the market for some food?" I asked mother. She looked at me from the side, but I could tell that she thought I was stupid for asking.

"No one will be in the market."

"Then I'll go to Deirdre and see if she can spare anything," I told her. She thought about while she tried to fry what looked like a bug in our pathetic frying pan.

"She won't give you anything, she can barely get by herself."

"She will, trust me," I replied. My mother added the dried apples my sister had found to the frying pan. They sizzled and started to shrivel.

"Fine, but be back soon," I didn't say anything. Instead I walked over to our shared drawer and pulled on the handles that were barely being held on by four nails. It took three tries to get the drawer to unjam. I grabbed a random pair of pants and a white t-shirt. I placed my night clothes inside of my pillow case and pulled on the first pair of socks I saw. At the door there was a pile of shoes. It's just so happens that mine was on the bottom. Just _great._

I slipped on my shoes and opened the door. I walked outside and closed the door quickly. The Seam was quiet, almost like a ghost town. The street was empty, as usual, and shades were drawn. The soot was a fine coating on the ground and house. Looking back at my house, the soot makes the faint, wavering late from my house appear blackish. Deirdre lives not even five minutes from my own house, since she too lives in the Seam.

I wasn't going to Deirdre's house, well not before breakfast anyway. I always go to her house after breakfast, never before, even if we need food. Instead I go to the meadow that was close to my house. I know they have some plants that you could use to eat. I also knew of a lone fruit tree that my Gram told me about. She told me that the tree was hundreds of years old, and was from time before Panem when you could have fruit trees wherever you wanted them. Her great-great grandmother told her daughter, who told her daughter, who told me. Now it's my job to make sure that tree lives.

I walked along the seemingly dead streets of the Seam, and I wondered if the merchant part of District 12 was also silent, proabably. The meadow looked the same as yesterday, if you exclude the beautiful blonde teenager picking the few wild herbs that grew in the meadow. I didn't approach her, I didn't have to. I walked as silently as I could past her. The tree was not in the actual meadow, but on of the trees surrounding it. I walked about five feet in when I saw my biggest secret. The tree was tall and the branches were weighed down by dozens of apples.

I place my hands on the rough bark and pepare for a nearly impossible climb. It took myself a minute or two to pull myself up. As soon as I reached the branches, it became much easier to climb. I went to the branch that had an abundance of blood red apples and began to shake the branch. The apples fell with dull thuds on the grass. I stopped shaking when about six apples have fallen to the ground. I slowly lowered myself, grunting from the physical strain it put on my arms. When I reached the ground, the blonde girl was standing there looking from the apples to the tree, then she looked at me.

I recognized her as the daughter from the apothecary shop owners. She was in my class, but I've never talked to her. The only time I actually acknowledged her was when we brought my father in to cure his throat pains. They were some of the only people in District 12 who had access to medicine. The doctor had told my father that it would go away within a few days, but he wanted to be cured that day. He went to the apothecary shop and drank a brew of herbs. I believe her name was Vivian Ostberg.

"Can I have one of those apples?" She asked in a quiet voice. I nodded. I have plenty of apples, it wouldn't hurt to give her one. She bent down and put an apple into her free hand. She straightened up and gave me a smile. I didn't return it. She didn't seem fazed.

"How's your father?" I had to admit I was surprised that she would remember about that. Mainly because it was a long time ago, and partly because she was a blonde. That was judging from what I've seen from the other blondes in my school.

"He's fine. How's business?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"It's going well," I nodded, not actually caring how her business went. I bent down and scooped the apples into my arms. I nodded at Vivian and walked away from her. When I was about to step into the meadow she said something.

"Good luck," Her voice was louder than before. It rang through the silence, and it was almost like a death sentence. I turned back to her and gave her a single nod.

"You too," She didn't say anything. I exited the meadow and made my way back to my house. It was only 11 in the morning, and still no one made an appearance. I reached my house and it looked the same as before. Opening the door was a feat since I had both of my hands full with apples. I opted to beang my shoulder against the door gently but hard enough to be heard. About ten seconds later the door is opened. My father smiled at the apples I held in my arms.

My father's name was Cruz and I've been told that I'm an exact replica of him, and quite frankly I agree. We have the same curly black hair, and our grey eyes are both bright. Our olive skin seems to be a shade lighter than that of my mother and sister. He took the apples into his hands and brought them to his my mother. I stepped into the house and closed the dootr. I quickly took off my shoes and sat at the pathetic little table of ours. I looked at my mother who was staring at the apples I brought and noticed that she looked giddier than a child in the Seam who got their first piece of candy.

"Give Deirdre our thanks," She said while whipping the only knife we own out of the drawer. She sliced the apples with practiced precision.

"I'll tell her."

Five minutes later our breakfast is ready. It wasn't a meager breakfast, like what I would've expected, but it was extravagant, for the Seam that is. My mother had kept the original dish she had made with dried fruit, leaves and roots, and plus one cockroach disguised as a large raisin. I have to admit, her dish wasnt that bad. She chose not to fry the apples I brought her, and sliced three of them into four pieces.

It was quater to 11 and I thought it was time to pay Deirdre a visit. I brought her an apple, as a going away present, It was a joke between us actually. We always pretended that one of us was going to be reaped, and we brought each other a gift, and we gave each other at least one meaningful kiss.

Deirdre lived close and her house was a larger than mine, having to rooms and all. Deirdre lived on the edge of the Seam, close to the merchant part of town. Her home had faded and cracking red paint and wasn't covered in as much soot as the other houses in the Seam. Her door was creaky and old. I think that if I knock too hard it'll come off at the hinges. That's why I'm tapping unbelievably lightly.

The door opened to show Deirdre; a beautiful girl of 17 years. Her eyes were a dark grey, and her hair was a dark brown and it was fairly wavy. Her skin was a dark olive. Deirdre had a stature of 5'6". And the best thing of all? Well, the best thing has to be that she's my sweetheart.

Deirdre gave me a large smile and threw her arms around my neck. I'm not one for feelings or physical affection, but with Deirdre, I just couldn't help it. My arms snaked around her waist and pulled her body close to mine. I gave her quick kisses on the cheek, and a long one on the lips. She stood in my arms for what seemed like forever, but when she unwound herself, she took my hand and led me into her house. I closed the door behind me, fully aware that Deirdre wouldn't do it herself.

She led me into her kitchen, which was also small. Her parents were sitting around a table. A stack of dishes was on the table off to the side. They gave me smiles which I tried to return, but I failed miserably in doing so. Deirdre's mother's smile faltered slightly. I didn't feel that bad. She should've learned by now that I'm not one for smiling, I have been going to their house for Deirdre for years. Her father didn't seem to care, and also gave me a small wave.

Deirdre led into the next room and sat me on her bed. She rummaged through the drawers and produced a crudely wrapped object. This was my cue to produce something. I had been hiding the apple in my shirt so she wouldn't see it. I pulled it out and her eyes shimmered. I know that Deirdre had only had apples once, and ever since then it had been her favorite food. She placed her gift in my empty hand and I placed mine in hers.

I unwrapped it and found something beautiful. Deirdre had been staying in school for extra hours to work on something, she had never told me what, but now I knew. She had been staying with the arts director making an intricate ring. It was silver and it seemed to be several small ropes knotted together to make a band. It was amazing, and I had to admit, that it was beautiful. I slipped it onto my left ring finger and admired it.

"It's almost as beautiful as I am, but it's nothing compared to you," I told her. She smiled and rubbed the apple I had given her. She sat next to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek that lingered even after her lips departed.

"This has to be the best gift you've given me so far! I love apples! And, just, wow," She said looking at me. She got up and placed it on the beaureu her family owned. I was confused.

"You're not going to eat it?" She looked back at me and chuckled.

"Do _you_ eat gifts?"

"No."

"Exactly."

"What about when it goes bad?"

"Do you throw away your gifts?"

"No..."

"My point exactly."

Deirdre sat next to me again and leaned into me. That was our oh-so-meaningful kiss.

I left about an hour later. I walked home as slow as I could, not really wanting to get home in time for the Reaping. When I do get there I had taken double the time to get home than if I had walked at my normal speed. My mother had been waiting outside for me and she was shuffling by the time I reached the house.

"Hurry up, please, Haymitch," She told me in a stern tone. I nodded and made my way into the house. Colette was already dressed in a light yellow dress that reached her shins, and she was trying to tie her hair up into a bow. My mother, who must have slipped in behind me without my noticing, did it for her. I made my way to the drawer and took out what I wore to every reaping. A pair of my father's old dress pants that were slightly too long, and the nicest shirt I own, a blue striped button down and my usual shoes. I was done within two minutes.

I walked over to Colette who was fussing with her hair in our small and dirty mirror. I pulled on of her black curls playfully and she lightly smacks my forearm. She puts down the mirror and ruffles my curls with a fake angry expression playing on her features. I smiled minisculey and gave her a hug. A rarity from me. She returned it and bounced over to the door and quickly put on her shoes. She practically skipped out of the house. _If a person could be happy about even the worst of things, that person was definatley my sister. _

My father approached me by the door and tried to pat down my curls. Like most other things he did, it was useless. The four of us walked to the square and arrived there mere minutes before the reapings began. My parents had to find a spot far away from where the actual reapings would take place, and they'd have to watch the Reapings on a tv. Not that I mind. I part with Colette as she goes to stand with the other 14 year olds. I went to stand with the other boys of my age, 16.

The stage looked the same as it did every other year: the stage was small and held three chairs, a podium, and two glass balls; one for the girls and one for the boys. In one of the chairs sat Mayor Aburage, as portly as ever, the victor from many years ago, Annalise Krump, a tall merchant's daughter, and the escort, Ailia Browne. As soon as all of the hustle bustle is over, Mayor Aburage steps up to a podium and tells us the history of Panem. I tune it out that part, since I've heard it enough times. Then he reads the pathetic list of victors.

Then he introduces Ailia to us and steps away from the podium and Ailia steps up. Her l blue hair was up ponytails varying in length. Her eyes were a fake green, and her skin was tinted a light pink. She had a certain bounce and fake cheeriness about her. It disgusts me. She smiled impossibly large and leaned into the microphone.

"Ladies fist!" Her voise rang out across the square. It hurt my ears. She pranced over to the glass ball that held the girls names. She held the microphone up to her lips and said, "Micah Lee." A 14 year old from the Seam slowly walked up to the stage and said something into the microphone that I didn't really care about. Ailia went into the glass ball again and produced another slip.

"Maysilee Donner," She said. A pretty blond girl disengaged herself from her two friends who were hanging onto her arms, I recognized one as Vivian Ostberg. She slowly made her way onto the stage and when she did she looked downcast. She shook hands and then said into the microphone, "My name is Maysilee Donner, I am fifteen years old."

"To the boys!"Her chipper voice rang out across the plaza once again. She dug around the slips for about a minute before producing a slip of paper. She read it.

"Harris Tuck," Another death sentence. Another merchant's kid walked fom the 12 year old section. He walked quickly, probably to get it over with. He shook hands but didn't say anything into the microphone. Ailia didn't seem to care whether or not he said anything into the microphone because she went right to the ball to get the next name.

And that, my friends, is where that small flashback of ours ends.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

"Haymitch Abernathy," I could barely register the fact that I was reaped for the Hunger Games before some people place their hands on my shoulders and gave me a light push. It felt as if time slowed down, it was like time itself was transformed to honey.

Before I knew it, I was standing on the stage and I was face to face with Ailia Browne. I shook her hand, and much like Harris, chose to not say anything. The mayor told all of us to shake hands, and we did, none of us were holding each other's gazed.

After we sang the anthem we were coralled into sepparate rooms inside of the Justice Building. My family arrived first. Colette immediatley ran over to me and sat on my lamp and cried her eyes out on my chest. My mother and father sat on either side of me and rubbed Colette. I was the first to speak.

"Who would've guessed?" My mother sniffled and began crying as hard as Colette. I must be better than I though, if I could make my mother cry that easily. I placed the arm that wasn't around Colette around my mother. My father and I were the only people who haven't started crying yet. You could tell that my father was pretty darn close, but me? I wasn't planning on crying any time soon. The rest of the hour was spent comforting my family, and giving them hugs. It's usually the other way around, but I guess we in the Seam are pretty unceonventional.

The next person to visit me was Deirdre. She walked into the room as if it were herself that was going to the games. She sat down next to me after giving me one of the longest, and sweetest kisses I've ever had. She placed her hand in mine and was sniffling to no end. After what seemed like forever she finally said something.

"Will you bring the ring into the games as a token?" She asked me. I nodded. I wouldn't leave anything like that at home, it was the only thing to remind me of her.

"Will you keep the apple?" I said. She nodded and leaned her head on my shoulder. I played with her fingers for a while before a thought I had to share came to mind.

"That game we played, it was sick, because it was never a joke," I said. Deirdre didn't answer. My third visitor was a surprise. Vivian. She walked in and didn't give me hug, but she just sat down. I could tell that she was crying because her eyes were red and puffy.

"Thanks for the apple," The rest of the visit was spent in silence. A peacekeeper led me from the room and out of the Justice Building. The other three tributes were all obviously crying and they didn't care if their tear stained faces were being broadcast on live television all over the nation. I did care. I held my chin up high and tried my best to give a haughty smile. I have to channel my inner asshole.

On the train though, where the cameras wouldn't reach us, I felt obligated to cry. During dinner though I stayed haughty.

"So, Haymitch, anyone special at home?" Ailia asked me. I shoved a forkful of brocoli into my mouth.

"Who can resist this?" I asked. I had to admit, I liked acting high and mighty.

Back in my room that night. I didn't care if anyone could hear, I had a full out bawl fest.

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**_How'd you like it? Is it good or bad? _**

_**IF ANYONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN A FANFICTION WITH THE SAME CONCEPT, PLEASE TELL ME SO I CAN TAKE THIS DOWN. thanks:) **_

_**I HOPE YOU LIKED IT!**_


	2. Kai's Design

**CHAPTER TWO! I honestly hope you enjoy reading this chapter. I honestly hated this chapter, like, alot. Haha, but tell me what you think about it! **

**ENJOY!**

**Here's the pronunciation of the names:**

**Imre: Em-Re (The M in M&M, and the Re is Repeat)**

**Yael: Yah-L (Ya like in Yatch and the letter l)**

**Lotte: Lot-te (think of latte, but change the 'a' to an 'o' and hold the t.**

**Kai: Ky**

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Just as I was about to propose to Deirdre, the world shatters and the soft breeze is replaced by an ugly breathing noises. I open my eyes and I'm greeted by startling green eyes. Ailia. Ew. Her smile was unnaturaly white, and her light pink skin made her look like a monster on drugs. She placed a strange, white, plastic, cone in front of her mouth and clicked a button.

"GET UP! IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST!" The volume of her words boggled my mind and made my ears thump. Before I could swat her off of me she slid off of my chest and onto the ground. She quickly made her way to the door and opened it in a flash. Ailia darted into the hall, while shouting into that cone of thing of hers, "GET UP! IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST! GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!" I rubbed my ears, hoping they wouldn't bleed.

I closed the door and looked for any clothes that I could wear. The mohagany drawers were empty, so I was forced to wear the clothes I wore to the reaping. I checked through the small window in the door for Ailia before I left the cabin. The floors were carpeted with was seemed to be fur dyed blue, and there were countless oil painting on the wall. The train smelled like Vanilla, it pleases my nose and almost made me believe for one second that this train was taking me to some tropical island, if any were still in existance, that is. In reality, this train was taking me, and four other teenagers to their death.

I was the first person to arrive in the dining car. I chose the seat in the against the wall, praying that Ailia wouldn't take a seat in that one seat near me. The other dead kids- I mean tributes came in a few minutes later. It seems that no one else had found different clothes for they too were dressed in their reaping clothes. Maysilee sat straight across from me with Micah next to her. Harris sat by my side, and I had to restrain from thanking him.

The last people to enter were Ailia and our mentor, Annalise Krump. Ailia, was still disgusting, especially with her weird hairdo. I mean seriously, what kind of person styles their braids to spike up around their head? Annalise, on the other hand looked normal. Her frizzy blonde hair hand been put up in a bun that left two long strands hanging by her face. Her blue eyes seemed worn out. Ailia sat next to Harris (at least I don't have to look at her) and Annalise sat next to Micah.

The silent servants brought us our breakfast which consisted of tall glasses of orange juice, and a giant plate filled with pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, peppers, and ham. I didn't really eat much of it, knowing that the Capitol probably poisoned it to kill Ailia for being so annoying. While I was going over my arrogant act, Annalise spoke.

"Haymitch, you missed the recap of the reapings. You missed a chance to size up your opponents," She said. I looked up at her and saw that she was genuinely concerned. Her kindness is misplaced. I don't need people to fret over me, I can handle myself. I grunted.

"Why does it matter? I don't need to size them up, I couldn't care less," I replied. That was the end of our short conversation. Ailia, being the idiot she is, tried to make conversation again.

"So? How was your sleep?" Her crisp voice cut into my brain with every word she spoke. I just wanted her to not talk, ever again. Everyone was a coward and said that it was a fair nights sleep, but me? I'm no coward.

"It was horrible, thanks for asking," I told her. She didn't seem to care about my negative comment because she started going off again.

"After the train stops you'll be sent to your make up team and stylists," She told us. I groaned, already planning their deaths. Ailia leaned past Harris and gave me a genuinley innocent look.

"It'll be fun! You'll be so handsome! The women will just trip over themselves to touch you!" The only woman I want touching me is Deirdre, and the odds are that I will never make it back to District 12. I'd rather not have countless women after me anyway. Ailia didn't wait for a response because she immediatley moved onto picking Harris apart one piece at a time.

"You're gonna take some work. That hair is like a birds nest. And ugh! Those eyebrows, or should I say eyebrow?" Harris' hands immediatley go to his eyebrow(s) and he rubs them for some time. Then he moves onto his hair trying to untangle it, it's a useless effort. Ailia turns her unforgiving comments to Maysilee who I could tell was trying to hide within her waist length golden locks.

"Your skin! Oh my god what skin you have! Your teeth are ghastly! Please, get them bleached or something!" She begins to rub her face while slowly shrinking into a tiny ball. Micah was the last person having to face Ailia.

"You're just flat out ugly! Did your parents drop you on your head or something?" Woah, backtrack. Everyone in District 12 knew that Micah lived in the orphanage. Her father was killed by an incident with the fence surrounding District 12 just two months ago, and her mother killed herself out of grief. At first it was only Micah's lip that was trembling, but soon her whole body was shaking. I could just see Ailia's blank stare and stupid smile. Micah completley lost it. Tears poured out of her eyes almost as if her eyes were a faucet, and screams left her mouth at an unbelieveably high octave. She got up and ran from the table, Annalise close behind.

"What's up with her?" Ailia asked, still oblvious. I couldn't take her anymore. I stood up abruptly, not giving a damn if the chair fell to the floor. Ailia turned her gaze onto me, her smile faltering.

"What's wrong Haymitch?" She asked. I honestly think she has flies in her head or something. I walk away, when I reach the door leading away from the dining car I say something.

"Forget it Ailia," Then I walked out of the car. I didn't want to stay up and risk having to hear Ailia critique me on my attitude, so when I got back to my cabin I flopped on my bed. I tossed and turned, closed my eyes tightly, and just closed them lightly. No matter what I did I couldn't go to sleep due to the bright light shining through the windows. I jumped off of the cushiony bed and thought of a way to block the light. The solution only hit me when I saw the tall furniture.

The first thing I did was draw the thin shades around the window, it didn't do much. I circled back to the large beaurau; it was both long and wide. I tried to lift it up, but I failed miserably. I resorted to positioning my back against it and pushed. It moved further than I had anticipated and I fell onto the wooden floor. I grumbled and got up again, positioning my back against the mohagany again, only I placed my arms on it also. I pushed and I pushed. Eventually, I actually got it in front of the window. To my disappointment, the beaurau only covered the bottom half of the window. I looked aorund the room for something else to use to cover the window. My eyes fall on a particuarly plush arm chair.

I make my way over to the chair and I croush down, my hands grabbing the edge of the seat from underneath it. I grunted and lifted it up using all of my strength to lift it. With a grunt I stumbled to the window as fast as I could. My stomach collided with the beaurau and I slid the chair on top of it's flat surface. The light was gone from the room. I ran to the bed and jumped onto it, landing with my face in a pillow. I fell asleep quickly.

Once again, my peaceful dream land was shatter by the smiling face of Ailia. Ailia was sitting on me again, her facial expression never changing from cluelessly perky.

"GET UP! It's time for you to go to the remake center!" Before I could reply she slides off of me and leaves the cabin. I sit up in bed, and find that I never had taken off my day clothes, not that I really care. I got off of the bed and deliberatley took a lot of time putting on my shoes and leaving the cabin. When I reach the other tributes, the train has jusr rolled to a stop. I didn't run to the windows like the others did, I had no desire to look at the city whose craving my death. The doors slide open, and of course, I have to see that horrible city.

The tall and glossy buildings have been painted different colors, and they rise so high that I couldn't see the tops of most of them. The streets were large and paved, with fast cars rolling down them. Several Capitol freaks pointed at us and giggled. Some of the waved and smiled. _Look at them, trying to be nice. _I don't want to look at them, not at all. I put on another haughty smile to fit my fake persona and to hide my intense dislike for them.

Ailia led us to the Remake Center, talking the whole time and never pausing for a breath. On our journey there I noticed how freakish the Capitol citizens actually were. All of htem had hair in crazy colors and styles, their teeth seemed to white, their irises too bright, and their skin dyed different colors. All of them reminded me of Ailia, and I hated them. I don't know them, and I'm glad I don't. They're all clueless air heads who don't know the word normal.

At the Remake Center, I was forced to allow three idiots poke at my naked body, and make any adjustments that they see necessary. Now, the stubble I had been growing had been taken off of m face, my eyebrows have been tweezed, my teeth whitened, and they put some kind of makeup on my face to hide my 'blemishes'. They had tried to put eyeliner on me, but I had yelled at them. Ever since then they had been abnormaly quietm for a Captol citizen that is.

"Oh Imre! You've done a great job with his blemishes!" A fat lady with green hair said to an older man with puffy lips and red hair that fell down to his shoulders in waves. He laughed and waved his hand like he was dismissing her.

"Don't be silly Yael! The work you did on his hair is flawless!" He said in an oddly feminine voice. _My hair?_ What did she do to me hair? I reached up and touched it. The curls had been stled so they were all positioned to facethe front, and the curls that were in the front, fell onto my forehead in a single point. My hand was smacked away by a fairly young woman with bubblegum pink hair and golden eyes.

"Don't ruin her work!" She said in a baby voice. She seemed to have forgotten being angry at me for touching Yael's work because she went right back to waxing my eyebrows. They no longer talked about how each other's work was going, but about some person named Kris.

"Did you see her hair on Tuesday?" Yael asked them both. Imre giggled put this powder thing onto my face.

"It was horrible! It looked just like the hair in District 11!" Imre said to her. Then Imre looked at my legs.

"Lotte, you missed a patch of hair on his leg!" He said in his girly voice. Lotte bent down and held up the leg in question, turning it over. Then she took a big glob of wax and rubbed it onto the last small patch of hair on my body. Then she took this white stip and pressed it against the wax, rubbing it flat. Then without warning she pulled as hard as she could. She held it up and looked at the hairs with a certain distaste. She threw it into the grabage and smiled at me.

"Now you're flawless!" She said giving me a hug around the neck. 20 minutes later, when this form of tortue was over, they informed me that my stylist would be coming in at any minute. They continued chattering about the trends in the Capitol while they packed up their kits. That's when I realized that they're probably the stupidest, most forgettful, and the fakest people I've ever met. If they were bad, my stylist would be worse.

And she was.

Her name was Kai, and she was an idiot. Her crimson hair is probably colored so due to her brain bleeding from her being so stupid, and he turqoise eyes were blank. She had worn a strange pant suit and her high heels made her seem eight feet tall. She was walking around my nude body inspecting me, poking me from time to time. She purses her ugly 'M' shaped lips that were painted purple.

"My name is Kai, you're Haymitch, correct?" She asked me. Her voice wasn't as high pitched as the others, but it was deep and manly. She didn't wait for my answer because she pushed me onto a couch and slid a book with a leather cover to me. I opened the cover and saw the outfit I would have to wear for the Chariot ride. I wanted to throw up in my mouth. I was to be dressed in a clunky coal miners outfit. Please, spare me now.

"This is what you're going to wear," She told me. I sort of worked that out, since it said the words 'Chariot Outfit' underneath the drawing.

"This is the ugliest thing I've ever seen," She looked taken aback and placed a perfectly manicured hand on her heart.

"How dare you insult my work! It's not my fault they gave me the worst district to work with! I'm the one who should be saying this is the ugliest thing ever seen! Me!" She shouted. I laughed at her. She's really is an idiot. At that moment, I didn't have to pretend to be a jerk, I truly was one, and I knew from then on, I'd never have to summon my inner asshole, I just have to talk and it's there.

"Shut up you ditz. I'm the one who gets to die while you watch it with a bowl of popcorn! You're just a Capitol idiot, so don't say anything to me," I yell back at her. She purses her lips again, and doesn't say anything back to me. Instead she gets up and goes to the closet I didn't notice while the stupid prep team remade me. She opened the door and walked in. I could hear the scrape of metal against metal, the the noises stopped and she walked back out of the closet.

She was holding my Chariot outfit, and it was even uglier in person. I didn't even try to hide my disgust, which only made Kai angrier. She took it out of the protective plastic cover and held it out to me. I didn't reach for it. She made this noise at the back of her throat and set it the outifit on a chair. She threw a robe at me and I eagerly put it on. Kai sat in the chair across from me, and pressed a buttton. Food sprang up from the table. There was salad, chicken, and soup. I took a chicken leg and began to eat it.

"I hope you die," Kai told me in between bites of salad. I smiled sourly.

"And I hope you die crossing the street," I say back to her. She scoffs and continues eating.

An hour or two later, I'm in the coal miner's outfit. The hard hat with a light is a bit too big for my head, and the pack around my waist dips too low. The pant legs only go to my knees and it's skin tight. I think they put fake abs in the shirt, because my muscles seem bigger than before. I want to destroy this outfit. I was at the ground floor of the Remake center, and I was being put into my chariot. There were two chariots for each district, since we had twice as many players and the chariots could only seat two.

The other person on my chariot was Maysilee Donner, and she was dressed in a similar outfit. Kai positioned us far apart, and looking in different directions. I looked at the other tributes, and I saw how stupid and brutish most of them looked. I also noticed how much better their outfits were. Now, I felt even more stupid. Kai came back to us a few minutes later and pressed a button on the hard hat, which made the light blink with two second intervals.

The music starts and Kai backs away quickly, but not before deliberatly pinching me first. The doors open and the chariots for District 1 rolls out. The other districts had way better stylists, and they would get sponsors. District 12, on the other hand, would get none. All of the other chariots rolled out, and now it was time for Maysilee and I to make our (horrible) debute. When we rolled out, I was blinded by the flashing of lights. They weren't trained on us for too long, and I don't blame them. Even I wouldn't focus on us.

The chariots had to circle around the square then go into the Training Center. That would take a while, and I'd have to sit her unnoticed or cared for by the general public. I didn't want to look at the reporters, and the stupid citizens, so I focused on the screens that showed us what all of Panem was seeing. The cameras were focused on District 11, who were changed into elegant flowers. Their petals was actaully their hair that was sticking up around their head, and it was dyed different colors. The other hot shot district was District 4, who had turned their tributes into beautiful, shimmering fish.

I too was mesmerized by their beauty. I could already see the sponsors lining up for those two districts. I didn't even notice when we pulled into the Training Center.

I took off the hard hat and jumped off of the chariot. I handed the hard hat to Maysilee.

"Give that to Kai," I tell her. She nods and I walk off to the elevator. I was tired, and I wanted to go to sleep and see my family back in District 12. The three other tributes are in the elevator, and I can tell where they're from just by looking at their outfits. A girl and boy from District 4 are in there with me, along with a girl from District 1. They were both sizing me up as I guessed that the button leading to my floor was the 12 and I clicked it.

The doors closed and the four of us accended. The girl from District 1 got of first without looking back at us. The ride to the fourth floor was a silent one. When they did reach the floor for District 4, the boy tribute looks back at me once.

"You better watch out District 12."

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**How did you like it? I'm sorry for not making it any longer, the next chapter will carry on in the District 12 floor.**

**I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Critiques? Flames? Comments? I'll be glad to hear it.**


	3. I can see it in your eyes

**The third chapter! Is everyone else as excited as I am? No? Okay... Haha, just kidding. **

**If my copy of the Hunger Games is correct, they should be re watching the chariot rides and going to group training. Hmm, good fun! :)**

**This chapter was made listening to Iwillbot, an awesome pianist on youtube, check him out, and Joe Hisiaishi's Asian Dream Song.**

**ENJOY!**

**And I found something that I'm sure any tribute can relate to: http: / www. youtube. com/ watch?v= H82QHi UvY5E& feature= related just take out those spaces. **

**I've been listening to that song the whole time I've been writing this so I can get a feel of the emotions people would definitely have if they were in the Arena.**

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"Haymitch! It's time to watch the Chariot Rides!" Annalise called from the hall. I groaned and stepped out of the room that would be mine for now and walked down the hall. The Training Center was elegant, with priceless paintings decorating the wooden walls. There were some plants hanging from the ceiling, and the there was also some potted plants sitting on the blue carpet. The people in the Capitol had tried so hard for me to find this place beautiful, I did, but I wish that I didn't.

I find the other tributes, our stylists, Ailia, and Annalise all together. The tributes are all sitting on the couch, with an empty space next to Maysilee that I'm guessing is for me. Everyone else is gathered around the couch, and leaning against the arm cushions. Maysilee spotted me and patted the spot next to her with a smile on her face. I don't want to sit and I don't want to watch. I ignore her invitation and make my way to behind everyone else.

I find a lone arm chair sitting next to a window. I take a seat and growl when I sink low into the cushion. I fight my way back out and cross my arms, staring at the backs of the others. I can't help but be jealous of Annalise. She lived. She's a survivor. I'm going to die; I'm going to become a toy for the Capitol to play with. The capitol insignia appear on the screen, and I can hear the music from the chariot rides begin.

"Aaah!" I hear from pretty much all of them. I'm guessing that the chariots for District 1 had come out, and they were all ensnared by its beauty. I can't even see the T.V., but I don't need to. I remember the Chariot Rides perfectly, and I don't need any more reminders of my coming demise. Maysilee turned to the side and gestured from Micah to the T.V., a smile on her face. Micah nods and laughs at something she has said, but I couldn't quite hear. I envy them.

I admit that I was never that good at making conversation, and that I wasn't always that nice. Maysilee on the other hand, had always been very talkative and kind from what I've seen of her during school. Micah had always been kind, but fragile. They didn't change at all from what I've seen, they're still nice, and they're still chattering away. That's where I get jealous. I have changed because of this game. What little kindness and conversation skills I had inside of me had fizzled as soon as I set foot on that train. What would Deirdre think? She'd be angry that I was bad mouthing all of those 'kind' people, but I just can't help but be a jerk to them. They're all eagerly awaiting my death, and the other tributes want me dead as well, including nice little Maysilee.

Annalise breaks away from the small crowd and comes to sit across from me, at another plush arm chair. She smiles at me, and I, out of habit, don't return it. I think that the smiling issue may just be the only thing that hasn't changed because of the games. She holds her hands on her lap and gives me another large smile.

"So, how're you doing Haymitch?" Annalise asked. _I feel horrible. I know I'm going to die, and that I'll never get to live out my life. I'll never have a family, and I'll never see my home again. _

"I'm fine," I say back to her. She chuckles and wipes her hand across her face. She smiles at me again.

"I don't buy that Haymitch," She said back to me. I was hoping that I would be a better liar, but I guess that my lack of skill in that department show just how little chance I have at surviving the Hunger Games. I shrug.

"That's the truth."

"It's the games isn't it?" She said that more like a statement than a question. I don't say anything, so Annalise continues.

"The games change everyone Haymitch. The only difference between you and the others is that you choose to show everyone how you're no longer the sweet boy from District 12, but a rude, arrogant, jerk. Do you know what I'm saying?" She asked me. I looked into her eyes, willing myself not to show that I think- no, that I _know _she is right. When I looked into her eyes, I saw something there, something I didn't spot before. If you looked deep into Annalise's eyes, you could see her own Hunger Games replaying over and over, in a non-stop cycle. I now know that even someone strong like Annalise can't hide that they're being haunted be their past.

"I can see it in your eyes," I said to her. Her smile quickly faded, and I wished that I had said something else. I had unknowingly quoted her closest ally in the arena. Her ally broke off the alliance to go his own way. Her ally had gotten killed not even five minutes later. Annalise ran to him as fast as she could, and she got there in his last moments. Her ally asked if she was scared, and Annalise had told him no, and that she was going to be strong. The last thing her ally said was, "I can see it in your eyes."

Annalise stood up and rubbed her eyes. I stood up with her and grabbed her arm.

"I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that!" I pleaded. I didn't want her to be sad; I didn't want her memories of the arena to be worse. She shook her arm out of my grip and walked out of the room. The other people stared at me, and I couldn't take it. I left both because I wanted to comfort her, and because I couldn't stand the accusing looks on their faces. I followed the noise of sniffling, and breaths being caught in the throat. I find the door leading to her room slightly ajar, and that the source of the noises was indeed that room.

I push open the door and I see her sitting on against her bed, with her legs drawn into herself and her face buried into her arms. She didn't react when I entered her room, but instead kept on crying. I inched into the dark room, and closed the door behind me. I turned on the lights and made my way towards Annalise. I turned my back against the bed, and slowly slumped to sit next to her. I scooted closer and placed an arm around her shoulder.

She buried her head into my shoulder, and cried her eyes out. I had been in this situation before, and I know not to say a word. I rubbed her back with my hand, making circular motions. I couldn't tell whether or not she was trying to say words or not, but either way, I didn't understand.

Soon enough, she had fallen asleep. I grabbed her torso and her legs, and slowly lifted her up as to not wake her. I place her on the bed. I walked to the other side and pulled down the covers of her bed. Then I lifted the sheets on the other side also and slid her in.

Annalise looked troubled, but I didn't want to wake her from whatever place she is dreaming about. I closed the light in her room and quietly slipped out of her room. I came face to face with Maysilee. She had her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised.

"What did you say to her?" She asked me.

"'I can see it in your eyes,'" I told Maysilee. Her eyes widened and her lips formed an 'O'.

"Why would you say that?" She asked almost frantically. I walked away, knowing that Maysilee would follow.

"I didn't even remember that her ally had said it," I said back. Maysilee scoffed and stopped me in my tracks by putting out her arm.

"Ryker wasn't just her ally, Haymitch. She loved him! L-O-V-E-D him!" She said while making hand motions that I didn't understand. Ugh, I think it's a girl thing.

"I didn't know that! If I did I wouldn't have said it!" I nearly shouted at her, almost losing every shred of patience I've had. She smiled at me, and somehow wasn't affected by my obvious irritation.

"I know you wouldn't have Haymitch. I know you're actually a nice person, it's just that, well, you've been sort of a jerk lately," She said the last bit in a whisper. _Oh great, another 'You're a sweet kid but you're acting like a jerk because you're going to die,' _comment. I laugh at all of the "compliments" that I've been collecting.

"It's not something to laugh at Haymitch," She said to me. I could tell she wasn't serious at all because a smile was tugging at her lips. She stuck out her hand and I took it, giving it one quick shake.

"Learn a lot while we train, Maysilee," I tell her after letting go of her small hand. She nods.

"The same goes for you Haymitch."

The next morning I make it a priority to get up before Ailia can get to me. The only way to accomplish that was to get at 4 in the morning. Ew. The hours went by slowly, and by 7 o'clock I had decided to go sit in the shower. The bathroom was well decorated, and had a well stocked compartment of towels. The shower door was glass, but it was frosted. There were hundreds of buttons; maybe there were more than that. I turned the water on as hot as it could go, and stepped in. The water was scalding, for the first minute that is. The water had been just as I wanted it to be until, until the Capitol changed the temperature. The temperature meter had lowered itself, and when I attempted to change it back to the highest it can be, but whenever I got it up one digit, it would decrease to the lukewarm temperature.

I grumbled and kicked the small puddles on the floor of the shower. I turned to the panel which held the buttons that did god knows what. I pressed a random button and a stream of pink lotion like substance flew into my face. Along with that came robotic arms with sponges on the ends of them that rubbed the pink stuff into my skin. All I could do was stand and loathe the people in the Capitol, who obviously got everything easy and never had a taste of a hard-working life. They didn't know the kind of life where you had to do things for yourself, and you have to work for the things you want.

The sponges had rubbed it all into me, and left me with no desire to touch their showers. I climbed out and was suddenly assaulted by a blast of hot air. It took a second to realize that the blast was coming from below me out of a vent I hadn't noticed before. The blast was powerful and made my curls stand straight up.

The blasts of air stopped and my body was no longer dripping with water, and even my hair has been blasted dry. I walked out of the bathroom and saw that a green shirt that hugged my body and a pair of simple jeans were now sitting on the made bed. _It must be those silent servants_. I put on the clothes and walk to the mirror.

The reflection I saw in the mirror looked just like the Haymitch that I know is me, the one from District 12. The black curls are still as crazy as ever, and my grey eyes still had that gleam about them. I don't feel like the old Haymitch though. I feel like a shiny new toy for the Capitol to play with. I've found myself hating more and more things and people since I've been reaped, but I guess that anyone who was chosen to fight to the death would hate a lot of things. Inside I felt like a black hole, a rotten one at that.

I lean on the table that was below the mirror for support while I fiddled with the wrist strap of the green shirt I was to wear. I hear a click, and I dismiss it. Then the arm and comb came out of a hole in the table. The arm traveled towards my hair and started to comb furiously at my hair. It pulled out the large knots that not even the blasts of air could untangle. I grabbed my head as a particularly large knot was pretty much ripped out of my head. The arm retracts, and I see a large clump of hair between the teeth of the comb. The arm and comb disappear, leaving me rubbing my head. The one upside is that my hair seems somewhat tamer.

I leave the room and see that the other tributes are now up and eating breakfast. I sit down between Annalise and Maysilee. The silent servants bring me a dish stacked sky high with food.

"Why don't you talk?" I ask the girl. She looks at me, and doesn't say anything.

"It's rude to not answer when someone asks you a question," I say again. She still doesn't say anything. I open my mouth when Annalise elbows me. I look at her and she was subtly shaking her head. The girl leaves and Annalise begins her explanation.

"She's an Avox. She had her tongue cut out as a punishment from the Capitol," I don't say anything, but instead choose to eat. I stuff sausages into my mouth and down it with orange juice. The one thing that's good about the Capitol is their food. I was starting to forget the horrors of their bathroom and enjoy the day. Then Ailia walks in and ruins the mood. She gave a smile and looked at a clipboard and silver watch. Ailia looked closer to normal today, opting to have her hair in two low pigtails.

"We have group training in half an hour," She said to the air. She took a seat next to Micah and gave her a large smile that Micah didn't return. Ailia had her food delivered by the Avox and began taking small bites of egg. She places her clipboard on the table and saw that there's no schedule on clipped to the board, but only a blank piece of paper with doodles littering the page. I snort and Ailia looks at me before sliding the clip board off of the table.

Many bites later, Ailia stands up, as do I, knowing that it's almost time to go to training. The others stand up also, and Annalise clears her throat to make an announcement.

"While you're training in groups, don't show off, and don't seem too bad either. Seem average. That's your best bet," She says. I nod. I won't be good at anything anyway, because I've had no experience with any of them.

Ailia walks us to the elevator and presses a button. The elevator arrives almost immediately. The doors opened and lovely music poured out from the elevator. No one moved an inch, none of us wanted to go down their.

Ailia put her hands on my shoulder and gave me a surprisingly powerful shove. I tumbled over my feet and fell to the floor. The others followed soon after. Ailia stepped in with us and did her best to avoid stepping on us. She pressed the button and we arrived at the ground floor almost instantly.

Before we even got the chance to untangle ourselves from each other, the doors opened. The 44 other tributes stared at us as we untangled each other and slowly stood up. Ailia gave me another large smile and gave me a pat on the back.

I cleared my throat, and composed myself. I put on an arrogant smile and got ready for the worst time of my life.

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**So? How was it? I didn't want to put any of the training for the Games in this chapter, because, well, I just didn't want to. I swear it'll be training filled next chapter, but I'm not going to have the private sessions, and the chapter after that will probably be training for how they'll appear in the interview. And we all know that Haymitch was, arrogant.**

**Love it? Hate it? Critisim? Leave it in a review so I can hear about it, cuz any kind of review makes me happy! :)**


	4. The Truth

**It's time for the Games of Haymitch! I apologize for the cruddy chapters!****  
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**OH! And check out my forum! It's totally lame but fun!**

**This is going to be a short chapter, but I added this because I wanted to show how Maysilee will act when she gets pissed! ;O**

**Enjoy this mini chapter.**

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I didn't plan on making any alliances with anyone, so I made a point to go to a station where no on else was. That was herbs. The professional running the station seemed happy that I was there and he taught well. In a matter of an hour I learned the use of four different herbs, the tell tale sings of those herbs, and I also learned about the poisonus plants and herbs that will surely be in th arena. I look up to see a girl from District 7 walking to the same station as I. I stood up and made my way to the next station that was empty; snares and knots.

"Hello!" She began telling me about all of the different knots and snares. I nodded here and there, only watching her fingers as she made the complicated knots. She handed me a rope and nodded enthusiastically for me to try my hand at making knots. I tried to remember how to make the knot she had showed me. I twisted the rope this way and that. I pulled the two ends and a knot formed. It wasn't the right know. I untied the knot and tried again. I had just mastered the knot when it was time for lunch. Maysilee sat next to me even though I hadn't invited her. She tried to make conversation.

"Did you learn anything useful?" She asks me. I shrug, not really wanting to answer all the much.

"I guess," I say. Maysilee took a bit of the sandwich and wipes lips with a napkin. I find myself turned off almost immediately. She is so proper and neat, it's from her plush life in the Town. She won't last a minute in the Arena. I won't either, of course.

"I learned a lot. Have you gone to any useful stations?" I shake my head. I wouldn't really consider knot tying and herbs to be all that important.

"You're going to be in trouble then," She says. She's one to talk. I have a better chance than her. I know harship, and I know pain. All she knows is a plush and easy life, just coasting by without any problems.

"I have a better chance than you at least," I say while shoving a piece of bread down my throat. Maysilee's eyebrows knot together.

"How? I'm the one learning useful things," She says back. I snort, _as if it isn't obvious? _

"You might have learned some useful things, but let's just look at the big picture. You, Maysilee, have lived in the Town your whole life. You get to have a steady supply of food, and you get by well. While I, Haymitch, has to live in the Seam. I know what it's like to be starving, and I know how to fend for myself. I have a chance of winning that is a lot higher than yours, so I'd not talk about me being in trouble. I'd be worrying about you," I say simply. Maysilee huffed and stood up from her chair. All of the eyes turned to Maysilee. She grabbed her food and glared at me.

"You have _no _idea what you're talking about Haymitch! I'd shut up if I were you!" She says before storming off to the other side of the room, towards Micah. I was speechless. I turned my attention away from the fuming Maysilee and returned to eating. I could still feel everyone's eyes on me. I look at them.

"I look that good, don't I? If you can't take yours eyes off of me," I say with a smile. Several of the femal tributes snorted and began talking again. The male tributes ignore my remark and continue talking amongst eachother. They're probably making plans with each other. I look at Maysilee again. I see her and Micah in deep conversation. Micah drew a diagram on the table with her finger, and I figured out that they too had made an alliance with each other. I don't want to be an ally with someone other than District 12. I look for Harris and I see him talking with a female that I'm guessing is from District 3. They all have allies now, and judging from how they're all friends with Maysilee, she'll make them promise not to be in an alliance with me.

I go back to eating, but I don't taste the delicious food. All I can think about is the truth.

I have no allies. I will be fighting in the games with no one at my side.

My chances of making it back to District 12 is zero.

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**I hope you enjoyed that tiny little chapter! It shows how Maysilee is when she's angry, and how Haymitch now fully understands the truth of his chances.**

**I do enjoy reviews! ;3**


	5. How Did You Do it, Maysilee?

**I'M SORRY! I waited so long for the next chapter to be put up! I've been focusing on other fanfictions, and I admit, I didn't feel like writing this chapter, cuz anything before they enter the arena is MAD boring. You guys forgive me right? I'm really sorry, I really, truly am sorry.**

**Expect more updates when they get into the arena, cuz that's where the fun begins!**

**OKAY! So the last chapter was short, but it stated that Haymitch is finally coming to terms with the fact that he will proabably never make it back to District 12, so yeah. That's how I imagined him, knowing he had to no chance but covering it up with lies and arrogance. I'm sorry if you see him a different way, he's just like that in my mind.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I wish everyone well.**

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I played with my food, which is unusal for me. I honestly didn't want to eat the food they had prepared, whether it was delicious or not. For some reason, I would've rather eaten the meager meals my mother made every day back home in the Seam. I want to sleep in the rickety old bed that we all schared, and I wanted to gather apples everyday. I want to help my mother put out the frequent fires that our stove caused. I even wanted to be back with my useless father, Cruz, who only cared about bringing home money and not his family. I want to help Colette with her hair and tease her constantly about her ratty ribbons and dressed. Heck, I miss being poor and having no food in my stomach, and I miss the apple tree most of all.

I really don't like being stuffed silly and being pampered. I hate the fact they have gadgets for every single mundane thing like drying or brushing your hair. It makes me disgusted, actually. Very disgusted. I don't want to be at the table anymore, and I don't want to go to the ridicously plush room. I get up and walk away from the table to the door that lead to the roof. I ignore Ailia who calls me back to the table and I push the door open a bit melodramatically.

I go up the stairs as quickly as I can and I soon emerge at the top. The air smells like flowers and the rising sun is slowly turning the sky into a light blue. I walk up to the railing and looked down. The capitol was still busy even at this early hour, there were cars flying down the roads and it must've been loud. I could't hear anything other than a faint buzz. I look around the rest of this tiny little haven. There's a little garden, and the plants look well tended. I make my way over to the garden and sit down in front of it.

I've always like flowers, but fruit trees will always be my favorite. I touch the leaf of one of the flowers and rub it between my fingers. I wonder what type of plant this is.

"That's a white rose," A voice coming from behind me says. I turn around, a little shaken since I didn't hear the door open. I see Micah standing five feet away from me. I study her. She was small for a 14 year old, and her hair was strangely short for a girls. It came only to about the middle of her neck, and it was a dark brown. I motion her over, and she comes to sit next to me.

"How do you know?" I ask her. I thought back to school. I don't remember learning about plants in school, so I doubt that she has. Micah holds her legs in her arms and looks at the garden.

"My Mom spent a lot of time in the apothecary shop, she told me a lot of the names of flowers when I went there. I fell in love with them, they smelled so nice, they looked so pretty. They're absolutely perfect," She said in a dreamy tone. I turned to look at her, eyeing her up and down.

"Are they that special to you?" I ask. She nods and plays with one of the petals of a purple flower.

"Yes, I love them very much. They remind me of my Mom actually. Is there anything that you hold dear to yourself, Haymitch?" She asks me. I look at her and find her staring at me. Her teeth were really uneven and sort of just out from her lips a little bit. I look away from her.

"A ring," Is all I said to her. She nods.

"What kind of ring?" She asks me, beginning to bug into my business.

"A silver one. It looks like ropes intertwining," I say lowly, thinking of Deirdre. She'll be disappointed if she sees me being an ass. I shake the thought away.

"Ooh, it sounds beautiful. How did you get enough money to buy it?" She asks.

"I didn't. My sweetheart made it for me," I say. Micah nods and stands up, wiping off the back of her legs. She gave me a quick smile.

"Well, she's very kind for doing that. I guess I'll be going back," she said, with a small wave. I waved back and watched her descend down the stairs. I think Micah is way too nice for her own good. Later on in the day we're supposed to be having our private training with the game keepers. Dang, I'm dreading that. I'll probably get a four or a three. I lay on my back and look at the sky above. There were some white and fluffy clouds lazily making their way across the light blue sky. The only beautiful part of this city is the sky and the limited plants. If I tried hard enough, I'm almost reminded of being lazy in the meadow with Deirdre, we used to lie there for hours. It was like a slice of heaven, just for Deirdre and I.

"HAYMITCH!" A shrill voice screamed into my ear. I sit up immediately and slam into something that seemed to be hard as rock. I flop back down on the ground and rub my forehead. I groan and open one eye. I see bright green eyes staring into mine, pink skin crinkled around said eyes, and her signature bright blue hair was in hundreds of buns around her head. I hiss at her under my breath, she doesn't seem affected.

"It's time for your private training! Time to get up now!" She half shouted. I don't reply and stand up, and look away from Ailia. She somehow manages to skip ahead of me in her sky high heels and close fitting gold dress with swirling cut outs. I don't really look in her general direction. Downstairs the rest of the tributes were standing by the elevator, most likely waiting for Ailia and I.

Maysilee seemed to have forgotten all about yesterday because she smiled at me. I didn't make an effort to return it, as usual. Ailia presses a button and the door opens. She smiles and makes us get into the elevator. I get in just before Ailia does. I end up standing near Maysilee, and I make no effort to even look in her or anyone elses direction, I didn't have anything to say.

"Are you nervous?" Maysilee asks me. I look at her from the side. She was looking at me and her long golden hair that was fairly curly was up in a ponytail.

"No," was my short answer. She nods and turns away for a second.

"I'm nervous," she replies.

"That's fantastic," I say automatically.

"You don't care at all, do you?" She inquires. I smirk. So she sees the truth.

"Yup," I reply cooly. Maysilee says nothing else to me. The elevator door opens seconds later and I was somehow the last person out. We didn't really get to practice any of the skills before we went into the private training, whihc left us to sit around the large table, waiting for our turn. To my fortune, District 12 went last, but I was the first one to go. The order is sort of strange if you think about it. It counts down from 1 to 12, boys go in before girls, and it's in alphabetical order. Whatever happened to ladies first, hmm?

I sat there making random shapes with my fingers on the table. How boring can it possibly be to sit in a room with 47 other people around my age that I could _totally_ talk to if I wanted to? Apparently, very boring. My eyes wandered around the table, looking at the other contestants. So far, only one person has left and it feels like I've been here for hours (more like five minutes). Maysilee was in deep conversating with Micah and Harris seemed to be checking out another tribute.

"So, Harris," I say, turning to him. His eyes widen, and he looks from me to the girl he was looking at, his cheeks turning red. He cleared his throat.

"Um, yes?" I open my mouth, then close it, not actually knowing what the heck to say. Harris decides to fill the silence. "You're pretty mean to Maysilee," he says out of the blue. I blink twice, really not knowing whether or not to reply. "She always complains about how you're so full of yourself and how you only care about yourself. She doesn't think you're very nice," he finished.

"If she thinks I'm a jerk, why does she keep talking to me?" I ask him. It was a perfectly logical question if you ask me. She tries to talk to me every chance she gets, yet she thinks I'm a jerk. That makes absolutely no sense at all. Harris shrugs and leans a shoulder on the table.

"I don't know. Maybe because she thinks you're cute, or she wants to make you nicer. She never actually told me _that_," he finished quickly. I don't even comment on that and turn away from Harris. Jeez, why is Maysilee so weird?

Time passed quicker when the last girl from District 11 went into the room. I bobbed my legs, which is extremely unlike me, but hey, everyone has nervous tendencies, right? I continually clasped and unclaspsed my hands in my lap. I find myself wanting to get this over with more and more.

"Are you sure you're not nervous?" Maysilee asks from behind me. I swivel the chair to face her and see her wih a questioning look on her face. I smile to seem as confident as possible.

"Of course I'm not," I quickly reply. It was more of an instinctive thing than a consious thing. She nodded and rolled her eyes slightly.

"Whatever you say Haymitch," she says while walking back to Micah. I swing my chair back so I'm facing the table once again. I hear a door open and I feel a presence next to me. I think I just shit myself. I look out of the corner of my eye and see a small and stout woman with a clipboard standing beside me. Her lips were in a perfect 'M' shape and they were covered in dark purple lipstick. Her pink hair was in a strange updo, and her skin was thankfully a natural color. She wore a short dress that was a deep blue and had several stones all over it.

"Haymitch Abernathy, it's time," she said with a strange smile on her face. I sigh and stand up, pushing the chair back, letting it roll across the floor. She quickly makes her way to the door and holds it open. I walk through and hear her click clacking behind me. She sat in a chair in the corner of the room and checked something off on her checkboard. She looked back up at me.

"Go on through that door," she said to me, gesturing the large brown door on the other end of the room. I make my way to the door and grasp the handle, preparing for the worst. With a deep breath I throw the door open and walking inside, trying my best to look as if I hadn't a care in the world. The game makers were sitting at a table, looking pretty bored if you ask me. I quickly scan the room and decide to go to the kives first.

I've only used knives once and that was when Cruz showed me how to throw knives in the woods. "If we ever need to leave this place," he had said. I guess he wanted me to be prepared for something that would never happen in one million years.

I picked up one of the knives and turned it over and over in my hand. I turn around and stare at the big target on the wall. I hope I can still get this right. I take aim and squint, trying to line everything up perfectly. I threw the knife, but it ends up missing the board by a quater inch. I reach back and take another knife and aim again. I realize my mistake. My foot hadn't been aimed at the target last time, but now it is.

I throw my arm forward, letting go of the knife. It sailed through the air and it hit the target. Not on bullseye where I would've liked it to though, but about two rings away from bullseye. I throw another knife, taking even more care to aim and I almost get bullseye, but missing it from what looked like one quater of an inch. I looked at the game makers and saw that they didn't really care at all.

I move onto a different station; snares and knots. I pick up a piece of rope that was just lying on the table. I tied the one knot I remembered. I messed it up on the first, second, and third try. I threw the knot back onto the table and walked around in a circle in the middle of the room, trying to find something else to use. My eyes immediately go to the swords in the back of the room. I've never actually picked up a sword, but I'm willing to try it.

I walk over and pick up the first sword I could get my hand on. It was light and fit perfectly in my hand. I swung it across my once and found that it was surprisingly easy to use. Though it was sort of hard to control the swing. All of a sudden a dozen of staw dummies fell from the ceiling. I sharply take in a breath. I get over the surprise quickly. I go up the the first dummy and swing the sword across the waist. It goes through for the most part, and I swing again to chop off the little part that was still intact. I go up the the next one, and put more force behind the swing. This time the dummy was chopped in half on the first try, but I spun around once from the momentum.

I took a moment to steady myself. Just when I was about to go to the next dummy one of the gamemakers spoke.

"That is enough. You can leave," he said. I look at them and see that some of them were happily munching on turkey legs. I let the sword clatter onto the ground and push the dummy out of my way. I reach the door and fling it open. The short woman sees me and gets up from her seat, going into the room where Maysilee and them were sitting at the table. I click the button and step inside, slumping against the wall.

I did horrible, I know I did. I couldn't tie any knots and I missed the bullseye everytime I threw the knives. I even couldn't stop myself from spinning when I swung the sword. I won't be surprised if I got a three or a five. I feel the elevator lurch, then I feel weightless. I grab onto the railing and close my eyes, inclining my head. If I imagined enough, it felt as if I was flying. I admit, I did grab the railing because I'm still a bit afraid of elevators.

In seconds the elevator comes to a stop, not one of those sudden stops but one of those very soft ones that just sort of swoop in very fast so that you don't notice. The elevator dings and the doors open without a sound. I open my eyes and slowly detach myself from the wall. Oh well for imagination then. Back on the floor Ailia swoops on me like a hawk. She grabs my shoulders.

"How did you do? Did you do well?" She asks somewhat frantically. I frown at her and brush her hands off of me.

"Stop touching me," I say as a reply. I walk away from her.

"How did you do?" She asks again. I turn around and see her standing in the same spot as she was before. I shrug.

"We'll see tonight, won't we?" I don't really expect an answer, so I walk away from her. I go right into my room and collapse onto my bed, not before kicking off my shoes of course. I fall asleep before I even hit the covers.

Just when Dierdre was about to put the ring on my finger I'm rudely awakened. I groan and slap and arm randomly in the air. Like I guessed, it hit someone. Except, when they said ouch, they didn't sound like Ailia. I open my eyes and quickly sit up. I see Maysilee rubbing her arm, a big red mark from where I must have hit here. I form an 'o' with my lips, then quickly blame her for getting in my way.

"Haymitch!" She scolds. I cross my arms defensively.

"It's not my fault!" I say back. She rolls her eyes and turns around.

"The scores are about to come up," she says right before walking out. Oh, that, the scores. I twist my back around, cracking it. Well, it's time to see how much I failed at private training. I get off the giant bed and walked out of the room and down the equally plush hall. Within seconds I'm in the television room. I plop onto the couch right next to the arm rest, next to Micah. She stares at the Tv, almost like she _wants_ to see the scores. Well, I certainly don't.

The Capitol seal appears and the scores begin right after that. The scores weren't anything, they were mostly in the 8-9 range, though sometimes there were a couple of 5s and 6s. Then it was time for District 12. I gripped the arm rest, waiting to see my horrible score. The scores flicker onto the screen, and I find myself to not be disipointed.

I myself got an 8, Micah got a 5, Harris got a 6, and Maysilee managed to get an 8. I look across the couch to Maysilee and see her smiling happily.

How did you get such a high score Maysilee?

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**I'm sorry for such the long wait, and having the next chapter handed to you after I pooed on it! I'm truly sorry!**

**Anyways, thanks for reading!**

**Next chapter will be the interview, and then after that will be the arena! Then there will be a lot of updates! YAY!**

**:) I hope you liked it. Give me any suggestions if you want to.**


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